There are three doors and they cost very different amounts.
Direct purchase is the expensive one. With cropland averaging somewhere around $5,830 an acre nationally in 2025, a small 40 acre parcel is roughly $230,000 of land before anything else, and good Midwest ground runs multiples of that average while Southern pasture runs well under it. Farm lenders and Farm Credit associations do lend on bare land, but down payments on unimproved ground are commonly much higher than on a house, often in the 25 to 50 percent range depending on the borrower and the parcel. Terms vary by lender and change, so get a written quote rather than trusting a number from a forum.
After closing, the recurring costs are property tax, which on ag ground is often reduced under a use-value assessment, liability insurance on vacant land, drainage tile or fence repair, and management if you don't want to deal with the operator yourself. Professional farm managers commonly charge somewhere in the range of 5 to 10 percent of gross rent, or a flat per acre fee, and they handle lease negotiation, tenant selection, and reporting. On a $22,000 rent that's roughly $1,100 to $2,200 a year.
The other two doors are the ones you found. A listed farmland REIT can be bought a share at a time and is liquid, though it trades with the stock market and gives up some of the low correlation people want farmland for. Private platforms typically start around $10,000 to $25,000 and lock your money up for years.
One thing to hold onto while you compare: income return on farmland has historically been modest, in the 2 to 5 percent range. That's the number to test any pitch against.
